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This is the result of today's work (cross-checking Montanari's history of the war in Libya with Pignato & Cappellano's history of Italian tanks plus additional sources). Hope there are not too many errors.

Note: I discovered that sometimes authors have difficulties with the Roman numerals... This is particularly true for the battalions in the "Sixty" series. Better to cross-check before accepting data at face value, even from an authoritative source :wink:

LXI
10 jun 40 - attached to 61ª div (Sirte) of XX Corps, at Giordani
08 jul 40 - attached to 2ª div Libica
29 aug 40 - included into II-Rgrp, at Bardia ?
Later - attached to 1ª div CC.NN. (23 marzo, of XXIII) at Bardia
According to Montanari: 03-05 jan 41 - destroyed in Bardia with the division
According to Pignato & Cappellano: 15 dec 40 - moved out and reached el-Mechili, where 6 or 7 L.3 were upgunned with 12.7mm HMGs or 20mm Solothurn ATRs. Later joined II/B.G.S. in the fight of 6-7 feb 41, and a few of its L.3 escaped to el-Agheila - the only Italian tanks to survive Compass

Probably (there were many convoys but this one had the most escorts) onboard ships Esperia, Conte Rosso and Marco Polo
Sailed out from Napoli at 02:00 on 13 dec 40
Reached Tripoli at 15:00 on 15 dec 40

Several convoys reached Bengasi in January, but they were all single ship ones with little or no escort - unlikely for such a precious cargo. The tanks could have reached Bengasi by road, hence the three days delay. OTOH the tanks for XXI arrived without crews, so they could not have moved to Bengasi on their own. I have no explanation :?

"To gain command of the air is to render an enemy harmless." ~ Giulio Douhet

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david said:
No LXIV Battaglione Carri (L) for Catanzaro :?:
Any idea why this unit was never formed?

Catanzaro was formed in 1940 renaming an I-can't-remember-the-name-now CC.NN. division, so it was not one of the "old" units (60ª-61ª-62ª-63ª) stationed in Libya since peacetime, although it wa numbered in the same series.

It is likely (but I don't know for sure) Catanzaro had the same TOO as the others, and so it should had its dedicated tank btn, but since there were only so many L.3 tanks there, no new battalions could be formed.

david said:
Didn't III(M) disembark at Benghasi?

I don't know for sure. The convoy I chosen seems the most likely candidate because of its escort - same reasons shown for other cases. Now I have not the USSMM book here, but IIRC there was no important convoys bound for Bengasi during the first half of October. I will check tonight.

david said:
Was Battaglione IX Carri (L) only one Compagnia string, hence the reserve status and compliment of just 17 tanks?

Careful: I wrote "17 tanks lost" (hence, 29 or so remaining). Actually I didn't noticed such a battle while surfing Montanari, but later I found P&C; wrote as such ("lost before 08 july") and I tend to believe them. I have no idea about the specific engagement(s) the tanks were lost in. Or were they mechanical breakdown?

"To gain command of the air is to render an enemy harmless." ~ Giulio Douhet

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david said:
I have the following units, at the following locations; 10/06/40.
XX Gambut.
XXI Acroma.

Probably true. I got the 10 June info from an old Regio Esercito OOB, not from any book, and it did non listed the location for any Corps asset.

david said:
Do you have any evidence of either IV or V or XXII Carri (L) in N.A ?

IV (M) was in Greece at the time.
V (M) was in North Africa - didn't I listed it? Unless you refers to IV (L) and V (L) ?
AFAIK XXII didn't existed anymore in 1940 - see the L battalion list in that other thread I wrote some days ago.

"To gain command of the air is to render an enemy harmless." ~ Giulio Douhet

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Davide Pastore said:
I don't know for sure. The convoy I chosen seems the most likely candidate because of its escort - same reasons shown for other cases. Now I have not the USSMM book here, but IIRC there was no important convoys bound for Bengasi during the first half of October. I will check tonight.

Below are some excerpt from the aforementioned book.

Note that I took some points for granted:

1) the convoy must have started from Napoli (since it carried heavy bulky items)

2) the above also applies to ships reaching Bengasi: the ship must have started from Napoli, making a brief intermediate stop at Tripoli. Unloading at Tripoli and then loading again there on a different ship bound for Bengasi is theorically possible, but ISTM absurd

3) the convoy must not have stopped for weeks in an intermediate port (too precious a cargo). This is especially true in December and January: Compass was in full swing, the tanks were needed ASAP

Analysis: 1-05 carried only personnel, others are all more or less likely although 1-02 seems to me the one, due to its heavier escort. A couple of ships reached Bengasi during the month, but they had made a lengthy stop at Tripoli before - so they had probably unloaded there, and later loaded onboard something else

Analysis: 2-02, 2-06, 2-10 carried only personnel. The others are all likely, but 2-08 has the larger escort (Assiria stayed five days in Bengasi, this might mean she had to unload a heavy cargo. The previous stop in Tripoli had been quite brief).

Analysis: Calitea of 3-03 reached Bengasi on 16-jan, and this fits nicely, but it carried only personnel and so could not have unloaded our 72 tanks (besides, it stayed there just a few hours). Some other ships of 2-01 and 2-05 reached Bengasi during early January, but as a rule they have stayed for many days at Tripoli and this seems to me they have unloaded / loaded there. I have really no clue about where the XXI's tanks came from. Could have they been all onboard Assiria of 2-08?

"To gain command of the air is to render an enemy harmless." ~ Giulio Douhet